Category: Features

The season 4 finale of Sherlock aired on Sunday night and it wasn’t exactly a resounding success. Firstly, Russian hackers leaked the episode online before its release resulting in the smallest audience in the show’s seven-year history. Secondly, a large number of people were already feeling let down by this season and didn’t embrace the latest instalment with quite as much gusto as usual. Finally, the finale wasn’t that great an episode.

It hurts me to say it – I adore the show – but the finale simply wasn’t of the quality that I have come to expect of Sherlock. However, it wasn’t that bad.

If you haven’t seen the episode yet, I suggest that you close this page now because the following will contain spoilers.

Previous seasons of Sherlock have always had a big, bad villain at the end. Somebody that tests Sherlock and really allows him to stretch those clever, brain muscles. Normally, the entire season would be leading up to that but the writers called an audible this year and changed up the structure.

Unfortunately, people don’t tend to embrace change.

The first episode served to clear up some of the plot holes from the previous season and then they killed off John’s wife. I loved the second episode – it felt very old-school Sherlock and included Toby Jones’ villain that had been marketed as the season’s big nemesis. However, it turned out that a previously unknown Holmes sibling was to be Sherlock’s final foe.

A lot of unbelievable things happen in Sherlock but by virtue of excellent writing, you find yourself completely believing it. At the end of the second episode I was completely ready to believe that Sherlock had a secret sister but the third episode simply did not lay out a convincing argument for it at all.

The sister herself wasn’t a particularly good villain, either. A mixture of casual cruelty and a campness that paled in the wake of Moriarty, made her seem like a throwaway villain. The question of how she escaped her island prison and wreaked havoc in the Holmes boys’ lives was never really answered, and it turned out that she only ever really wanted a friend.

It wasn’t a normal episode of Sherlock. However, I don’t think that it was supposed to be. Everything about this episode seemed like the closing of a book to me. The creators, Moffat and Gatiss, have reported that they have a fifth season plotted but have not yet decided whether or not to produce it.

My opinion? Don’t. As a strange, final episode, The Final Problem works. John and Sherlock are raising a baby; Sherlock is more human than ever; all is well at 221B. Euros Holmes felt like the show was grasping and I don’t think that there needs to be a further four and half hours of Sherlock made it that manner.

What did you think about the final episode of the season? Should they continues to produce episodes of Sherlock? Let me know in the comments.

By all accounts, 2016 was a rough year. Fortunately, 2017 promises to be a lot better – or at the very least that’s what people are saying and blind faith is currently preferable to painful realism.

At the very least, in our geeky, little bubble, there are plenty of reasons to be excited about the forthcoming year – so many, in fact, that narrowing it down to 17 was a challenge but that is what has happened. Here are 17 things to get excited about this year.

Wonder Woman (2 June)

This is the first time that I’ve truly been excited for a project by the DCEU and I’m really hoping that they don’t screw it up. Just give us a female hero and let her be as bad-ass as she was originally written to be.

Beauty & The Beast (17 March)

Disney classic, music from my childhood, Emma Watson: what isn’t there to love about this movie? Even Gaston looks good (in a he-seems-to-be-a-more-well-rounded-character kind of way, don’t worry – it looks like he’s still a total bastard).

Sense8 (5 May)

After the Christmas special at the end of December, I’m absolutely buzzing for this new season. Sense8 is hope and light but it’s also painful and terribly, terribly sad at times. Essentially, it’s the best thing being broadcast at the moment.

Spider-Man: Homecoming (7 July)

Sure, it’s the third reboot of this hero’s franchise but he’s still my favourite and I still can’t wait to see him again.

Cars 3 (14 July)

Never in a million years would I have thought that any member of the Cars franchise would be making it onto a list like this but… never say never. The first teaser trailer got me hooked and now I absolutely have to see it.

Coco (8 December)

I can’t talk about Cars 3 and miss out the other Pixar release for this year. Not a lot of people are talking about Coco at the moment but it’s about the Mexican Day of the Dead and that alone has me very interested. Plus, it’s Pixar – it’s going to be fantastic.

Orange Is The New Black, Season 5 (June)

The last two episodes of the most recent season of Orange Is The New Black were viewed behind a curtain of tears which is basically the highest praise from me. They ended on a cliffhanger that I couldn’t stop thinking about for days. Dammit, now I’m thinking about it again.

Star Trek: Discovery (May)

I am a part of a new generation of Star Trek fans that jumped onboard after the Pine movies. That huge market is probably one of the main reasons that they decided to launch a new series and I am very grateful for that.

The Oscars (26/2)

Th glitz, the glamour, the terrible jokes: I live for this award ceremony. It’s the one night of the year that I can successfully pull an all-nighter so that I can watch the entire show all the way from England.

Stranger Things (TBC)

I don’t know where they’re going to go from the first season but I am more than happy to find out.

Justice League (17 November)

My hopes for this movie are slightly lower than those for Wonder Woman but I’m trying to stay optimistic. Most of the characters seem great (with the exception of Batfleck) and if Warner Bros. can get their act together, this could be something amazing.

Hamilton, London (21/11)

I’ve adored this musical for the last year and it is finally coming to London! I won’t be able to afford tickets but at least I’ll be able to walk past the theatre…

Iron Fist (17 March)

Judging by Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and Luke Cage, this show is going to be amazing. What’s more, it’s the final piece of the puzzle before we get to…

The Defenders (TBC)

I love what Marvel are doing with their Netflix series and this seems like it’s going to be beyond amazing.

Star Wars VIII (15 December)

My appreciation for the Star Wars franchise is an even more recent development than my enjoyment of Star Trek. For the first time, I will be waiting with anticipation alongside the other fanboys and fangirls.

Fast & Furious 8 (14 April)

I’m not going to pretend that these movies mean anything more to me than 2 hours of ridiculous stunts and cheesy one-liners but sometimes the world needs crazy stunts and cheesy one-liners.

Logan (2 March)

Is it weird that I feel a little bit scared of this movie? Like I know it’s going to be brilliant but I think that if Logan dies, a little part of my heart may also die.

So those are the 17 things that I am most looking forward to in 2017.

What are you looking forward to? Is there anything on my list that has you pointedly unenthused? Let me know in the comments.

There are so many Christmas movies on television now and I love that. I am all for a cheesy, heart-warming, festive film but sometimes it gets a little bit too saccharine sweet. If you need to break up some of that unrelenting cheer then I have some films that still feel Christmassy but aren’t what first pops to mind when you hear ‘Christmas movie’.

(1) The Harry Potter Series

The Harry Potter series feels Christmassy. It has been pointed out to me on many occasions that the films span the course of an entire school year so my assessment may have some flaws but I don’t care: Harry Potter is a Christmas thing. Maybe it’s the magic or the over-arching theme of hope… Either way, it’s always a nice thing to watch in December.

(2) Rent

What do you mean the story about a group of Bohemians suffering from AIDs in New York at the turn of the century isn’t festive? You’re not festive! Besides, Rent is a musical and that adds… infinite Christmas points.

(3) Iron Man 3

Watching Iron Man 3 when it was released in April was surreal. It tried hard to push a Christmas theme, that seemed even more bizarre as a large portion of the film took place in California where it was permanently sunny. Fortunately, we get to re-watch whenever we want and I would suggest now as the perfect time of year.

(4) The Perks of Being A Wallflower

I won’t lie – this is likely on this list just because I only ever watch it in December but hey, if you feel like crying into your turkey…

What other non-Christmas movies do you watch in December? Let me know in the comments.

I like to complain – you know that. There are a lot of things to complain about in the world: poverty, discrimination, the fact that both geography and my bank balance prevent me from watching Hamilton live in the Richard Rodgers Theatre… In a world of minor inconveniences and major injustices the cinema is a refuge, a place to escape reality.

For the longest time cinema has been the widely preferred alternative to the theatre. As much as I love to see live performances, the theatre is expensive and often poses a barrier in the form of location for many people. I may have never seen Hairspray or Grease performed on stage but thanks to cinema, I have been able to experience those stories.

However, when I began university last year I moved 200 miles away from my home to a much smaller town and I discovered that a lot of the films that I wanted to watch simply did not show here.

In the last year I distinctly remember my excitement at the lead-up to the releases of The Edge of Seventeen and Everybody Wants Some!! only to find that they would not be shown in this town. It was then that I started to realise that cinema isn’t as accessible to everybody as I had once believed it to be.

No matter how wrong it is, there is a stereotype that exists in which the sort of people that go to the theatre are typically wealthy, middle-class liberals. Similarly, when you hear that somebody loves independent cinema, an idea of who that person is forms in your mind. Cinemas aren’t going to pay to screen a movie if they don’t think that they’ll make money back from it and so, smaller niche films are reserved for bigger cities and specific types of cinemas.

The little town where I live for the majority of the year is a great place, full of students from a variety of backgrounds and with a range of interests but that variety isn’t reflected in the cinema listings. Of course, I can watch Rogue One: A Star Wars Story or Moana but if I want to watch Snowden or The Birth of a Nation I have to travel for two hours.

I understand that the film industry is an industry: there are big businesses involved and ultimately they’re trying to make a profit but it doesn’t seem right.

Do you think that films should be more widely distributed? Or that there’s no need to do so? Let me know in the comments.

Everything you need to know before Office Christmas Party comes out tomorrow.

What is it?Office Christmas Party is a festive comedy film about – you guessed it – an office Christmas party.

That doesn’t sound very funny.
Yeah… but there’s this growing trend in comedy where boring, middle class people are put into “extreme” situations and in the end they decide that their lives are actually pretty great and they return to them. I’m not saying that that’s what happens here, but I’m guessing it’s pretty close.

What is it actually about?
Officially:

When Zenotek CEO Carol Vanstone (Jennifer Aniston) tries to close the branch of her hard-partying brother Clay (T. J. Miller), he and his Chief Technical Officer must rally their co-workers and host an epic office Christmas party in an effort to impress a potential client and close a sale that will save their jobs.

Not that that doesn’t sound great but are there any other Christmas movies?
There’s this and Bad Santa 2. Take your pick.

Who’s in this movie?
Oooh, the cast is pretty great: Jennifer Aniston, T.J. Miller, Jason Bateman, Olivia Munn, and Kate McKinnon are just a few of the huge ensemble cast. It was directed by Josh Gordon and Will Speck.

The guys who did The Switch?
Well, yeah but they also did Blades of Glory so this film could go either way.

Finally, is it any good?
The reviews aren’t in yet so I have nothing to base my opinion on except for the trailer. Personally, I think that it could be a fun watch but the trailer is below – see what you think.

Moana is officially in UK cinemas and to celebrate that we’re going to honour Disney’s wonderful, feminist approach to princesses by ranking these ladies against one another.

Not including Moana, there are currently eleven Disney princesses: Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Pocahontas, Mulan, Tiana, Rapunzel, and Merida. Everybody has their favourites (although if your favourite is Aurora, you should probably take a step back and think about the choices that you’re making in life) and for me, that favourite changes every time I re-watch on of their films.

Instead of selecting just one, which would be almost impossible, I have chosen my three favourite of the princesses, and with no particular order to it, here they are:

POCAHONTAS

I actually only first watched Pocahontas a year ago and it was amazing. Pocahontas has one of the most real-life tragic stories and it has to be said: the Disney version is much nicer. Like way nicer. Still, they spoke about an actual historical figure who cares about the environment and nature. She speaks out against blind prejudice and she genuinely cares about the wider world where most people are motivated by self-interest.

BELLE

As a book-loving nerd, Belle was always going to be one of my favourite princesses. Nothing quite resonates with me as strongly in a Disney movie than Belle’s reaction to that library. Also, when it comes to sexuality she’s definitely the most interesting – stick with me here. Most Disney stories are pretty vanilla when it comes to that aspect but Belle falls for the Beast when he’s the Beast. Try to convince me that that is not bestiality.

TIANA

The first black Disney princess was always going to be one of my favourites. With it’s New Orleans jazz; amazing voodoo plots; and uncharacteristically dark undertones, The Princess & The Frog is in my top 5 Disney movies but I’m focusing on Tiana. The title of ‘princess’ suggests some sort of birth-right or entitlement but Tiana is nothing like that. She works for everything that she has and she never gives up on it. Most people aren’t born princesses but Tiana shows that you can be extraordinary just by trying and that’s inspiring.

Who are your favourite Disney princesses? Are you an Aurora fan? Let me know in the comments.

What is it?Moana is the latest animated Disney feature film and more specifically it is their latest Disney princess film.

So, like Sleeping Beauty?
Technically the same family but it’s more Tangled than Sleeping Beauty. Disney has been really good at updating their princess narratives so that women aren’t just waiting to be saved by a man and then married off. Just look at Brave: the Disney princess series has become about empowerment.

Female empowerment sounds great and all but… are there still songs?
Totally. In fact, the music in this movie has been getting more attention than is normal for an animated feature because one of the composer’s happens to be Hamilton‘s Lin-Manuel Miranda.

What’s the film about?
The official synopsis is as follows:

The film tells the story of Moana, the strong-willed daughter of the chief of a Polynesian tribe, who is chosen by the ocean itself to reunite a mystical relic with a goddess. When a blight strikes her island, Moana sets sail in search of Maui, a legendary demigod, in hopes to save her people.

This movie has gods?
You’d think it would have been a controversial topic but everybody seems really calm about it – I’m assuming because it’s all been handled respectfully and sensitively but that’s not even the best part. The demigod, Maui? Voiced by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

Is it any good?
According to the critics, and the people that have watched it, and my instincts about this film. Yup. It actually seems amazing. People are saying that it marks a new, better, course for Disney.